Salt Dough Crafts - 30 Gifts in 30 Days
I’ve mostly been posting gifts that adults can make and give this holiday season. But that’s not really fair. Kids can make some great gifts too, ones that many people would love to get. I know my mother would likely hang up anything my sons made and consider it artwork better than anything made before. Doing crafts with your kids is a fun way to gt some presents taken care of and sharing all the fun of creatiing with them.
A favorite craft project around here is making salt dough. It is simple, inexpensive, and you can make whatever your heart desires. Plus there is painting involved, which automatically makes my oldest son happy.
All you need is salt, flour, and water to make the dough. The recipe varies depending on where you look for it. There are several different recipes to choose from, I suggest experimenting and finding which one works best for you.
The dough tends to be a bit like Play Doh, which makes it perfect for shaping and molding. Create whatever you and your children want. Animals, people, designs, the possibilities are endless. Once you have what you want you then bake the pieces in your oven. Here are some tips on baking your salt dough pieces. You have to be careful as you don’t want to burn the figures or over cook them so that they crack or break. Once you have you baked (and cooled) dough pieces them you can lt your kids go wild with the paints. It sometimes takes several coats to get the colors to look right, but painting and repainting can be a lot of fun. Once the paint is dry you should add two or three coats of a clear varnish to protect the piece.
You can make Christmas tree ornaments by shaping a small loop to the top of the pieces and threading ribbons through once they are dry and painted. Or create a wall plaque by adding wire to the back of the clay before drying it. Instant holiday present!
Books you should find:
- Salt Dough
- Dough Folk Art: How To Make Beautiful & Lasting Objects From Flour, Salt & Water
- The Magic of Salt Dough
salt dough, kids crafts, 30 Gifts in 30 Days
November 21st, 2007 at 11:23 am
[...] can also use clay to share their little hands. Use salt dough to create large plaques that your children can leave hand impressions in. Have them press their [...]
January 15th, 2008 at 6:43 am
[...] always afford all the cool supplies I see advertised. There are some things I can make myself, like dough or moon sand. But there are still some things that you just can’t do without the real [...]
March 4th, 2008 at 6:58 am
[...] While the plaster dries you can start making your decorations. Using plastic easter eggs is the simplest thing to do. You can use a sharp needle to thread string through one end of the egg. The decorate the eggs and hang them by the string. You can also look for small Easter figurines, often found at dollar stores and craft shops, that can be hung up as well. Or let your kids create their own decorations out of paper, wood, clay, or salt dough. [...]
March 7th, 2008 at 7:28 am
[...] my sons and I celebrated the coming Spring by making some Spring creatures of our own. We used salt dough to squish and squash little insects and flowers into shape. It was a lot of fun, and not just [...]